Letters from the Fort

Downtown Fort Wayne Baseball has a post with a couple of Letters to the Editor that are about the Harrison Square project.

I'm just going to say that letters to the editor are almost as entertaining as the responses to the letters to the editor.

This letter is about how the new stadium should include some flexibility in seating capacity. Because, the Indianapolis stadium is too small to bring in Major League Baseball and can't be expanded. If the new stadium in Fort Wayne can be expanded....

Planned capacity in Fort Wayne is probably adequate for the Wizards, but I see potential for a higher-level team, given the city’s rich history of support for sports. Many current Class AAA franchises are in communities smaller or about the same size as Fort Wayne.

The Fort Wayne stadium design should have the flexibility for expansion of up to 15,000 seats. Follow the Indianapolis template, but don’t make Indy’s one big mistake."

I can almost guarantee that this is not going to happen.

What follows is probably similar to letters in your own newspaper. The prophet of doom:

None of the new buildings proposed for Harrison Square has any chance of being successful. After two years of good attendance at the baseball stadium due to its novelty of being new, attendance will go down dramatically. The owners will pull out, and the city will be left with an empty space.
...
This new project will not bring any new business or tourists downtown.

Just listen to the 90 percent of the Fort Wayne citizens who have made progress and are against Harrison Square."

Now with the viewpoint in support after a few anonymous comments at the blog:

Really a progressive group - just like our outgoing city administration - hide as much as you can from public view. And, I do believe that those in opposition to destroying Memorial Stadium are close to 90 % of the citizens in the area!

An opposing viewpoint in the comments:

That 90% must be irate about this boondoggle just like you thats why they just elected the mayoral candidate that supported it REJECTED the candidate who ran on destroying it AND REJECTED Don Schmidt in favor of a member of the Redevelopment Commission.

Um, game, set, match?